


Pool Lighting

by Westgate (Harkpad)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Swimming Pools, suits in pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 09:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2687222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harkpad/pseuds/Westgate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint likes working with Strike Team Delta more than anything he's liked in his whole, mostly-miserable life. A fall into a swimming pool makes him like it even more than ever. </p>
<p>“You’re standing in an L.A. swimming pool in a Dolce and Gabbana suit. I feel like more than an operative,” Clint answered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pool Lighting

**Author's Note:**

> This was a tumblr request that ran too long to post on tumblr. Sc010f asked for Phil in a swimming pool in his suit, and this is the result.

The roof was not the worst roof he’d ever ended up working from. It had decent shingles as opposed to broken ones with sharp edges; it had a slow slope that let him keep a decent foothold; it was dry. He liked this roof. He said so over the comm.

“You’d like the house, too,” Coulson answered. “Big enough for an indoor archery range.”

“My dream house,” Clint replied. “Now if only Natasha would get us that confirmation intel from the party, we could take this place from AIM and eventually I could buy it from SHIELD and retire.”

“It’s only because it’s a party that your endless chatter isn’t annoying the shit out of me,” Natasha chimed in. She was working the scene, trying to get close enough to the commanding officer of the AIM group and confirm that this was the guy they were looking for.

“I like the swimming pool, too,” Clint said, ignoring Natasha. “It’s got fantastic underwater lighting and the deck is that grainy stuff that keeps you from tripping when you’re wet.”

“You’d probably trip anyway,” Coulson said.

“He is a giant klutz,” Natasha answered. “Did I tell you about that time in San Diego when he fell off the roof when he was casing it before the op even started? Luckily there was a full Dumpster where he fell.”

“Hey,” Clint said. “I found my watch in that Dumpster. It’s a thing of beauty.”

“It’s purple and glitters,” Phil replied. “I think it was made for a teenage girl.”

“I never got a chance to be a teenage girl, Phil. You know I try and compensate sometimes,” Clint said, and Natasha chuckled over the line.

“You guys better shut up or I’m going to blow my cover.”

“Quiet for a bit, Clint,” Phil directed.

Clint listened, and moved position to try and get a better look into the lounge where the party was being held. He kept an eye on the security they had casing the place, and kept an eye on Natasha, who happened to be wearing a stunning purple dress that shimmered as she walked. “My watch would match Nat’s outfit tonight,” he whispered.

“Quiet,” Phil repeated.

He watched, and thought about how comfortable he’d gotten working with Phil and Natasha over the last couple years. They could finish sentences for each other, didn’t need to ask when they were ordering food for each other, and worked seamlessly on ops, with Phil only needing to push a little in any direction to get them where they needed to be. Clint was having more fun than he ever thought he would in what used to be a pretty miserable, dead-end life.

The three of them were honest-to-goodness friends, and Clint could count on one hand how many of those he’d ever had.

He watched through his scope as Natasha moved through the room gracefully and saw it the second she found their target. He couldn’t help a chuckle when he saw the guy react to her approach.

“Clint?” Phil asked when he heard.

“Sorry, boss. Admiring Natasha’s work is all. Chambers is practically tripping over himself to get to her.”

“She’s good,” Phil agreed.

“So are you,” Clint said, feeling brave as he sat alone on his comfortable rooftop. He was having more fun in his life because he’d never worked with two people who made him so damned happy to be where he was. He would do whatever it took to make Phil and Natasha happy, and alone on a rooftop he could admit as much to himself.

“Feeling okay up there, Clint?” Phil asked gently.

That was just it. He could say something as benign as a compliment to Phil and he’d hear the layers underneath. Clint had shared more of his life to Phil when he was lying on a couch in a safe house than he’d ever shared with anyone, even the few lovers he’d managed over the years, just because he knew Phil could listen and hear the things that were important.

And then Natasha gave the signal. The hit was confirmed, and she was steering the guy toward the sliding door leading to the deck so that Clint could take him.  That’s also when Phil realized things were going to shit.

Later, Clint would rewind the night and hear the quiet panic in Phil’s voice.

“I’m calling in the backup team,” Phil added. “This could be trouble. New security coming into the house. Clint, get out of there.”

Clint pulled himself into a crouch and slunk across the roof away from where the security guys were coming in. “No. I’ve got the door, Nat. Get him out the door.”

They were _trying_ to be discreet. They were _trying_ to avoid bullets and blood and Clint had a rifle loaded with darts carrying a fast-acting poison. SHIELD didn’t always do it this way, but sometimes they had to. Tonight they needed no blood.

“Clint,” Phil said again, and that was it. Clint suddenly heard all of their friendship poured into his name. He heard something in the way Phil said it that made his skin flush with warmth despite the cool night air, and he felt it all the way down to his toes.

“I’ve got him,” Clint said as he slid down a drain to the ground, right at the angle of the sliding door Natasha was guiding Chambers out of.

He pulled the rifle to his shoulder, sighted the door, and a second later, he shot.

Then he felt a brick wall hit him and push him, sliding and scrabbling for purchase, across the deck and into the pool. He hit the cool, shallow water and then his feet hit the bottom, pain shot up his legs and a knife dragged across his chest. His armor handled it, though, and he grabbed the guy who’d hit him by the neck and dragged him under the water. They wrestled, and the guy managed to brush the knife across Clint’s neck, but it was shallow and the pain wasn’t much. The water turned red, though, and Clint grabbed the knife on the wrong end, gritting his teeth against the pain as it cut deep into his palm. He got a good hold, though, and managed to get the knife for himself.

He got a glimpse of Nat fighting another guard, and thought he saw a couple more SHIELD agents bust into the pool area before the guy’s hands were around his neck and he got a mouthful of water as the guy shoved Clint under the water again. He coughed and took in more water and _fuck_ , he was going to drown in a pool in L.A.

As his vision started to grey out, the guy suddenly went limp, his hands sliding off Clint’s neck, and Clint broke the surface with a gasp and a cough, and he was trying to get the water out of his lungs when strong hands were suddenly around his waist and pulling him close.

“Clint, fuck, look at me,” Phil said.

Clint looked up at Phil’s look of fear and concern wrapped up together, and then leaned into him, coughing hard until all the water was free of his lungs.

“I’ve got you,” Phil murmured as Clint leaned heavily into his chest, his head tucked under Phil’s chin.

As Clint’s cough finally tapered off, Phil pushed him away from his chest and put his hand on Clint’s cheek. “You’re bleeding. How bad is it?”

Clint looked up Phil and suddenly the cool night was warm and the look in Phil’s eyes was different than it had been before. Clint felt a shift, a change in the way Phil was asking, a different kind of concern in his eyes. He felt a little like he stepped off of a diving board and hadn't hit the water yet. He took a deep breath and met Phil’s gaze. ”I’m okay, Phil. It’s just my hand and a graze on my neck.” Phil didn’t take his hand off of Clint’s cheek, so he said it again. “I’m okay.”  

“Clear the pool area, now!”

Clint looked up sharply and Nat was ordering the SHIELD agents away, back into the house. They’d lost their chance at discreet when AIM had called in all the extra security. A moment later Natasha went inside, too, and Clint realized she saw the shift in Phil, too, and was leaving them alone for a bit to work it out.

Clint looked back and sucked in a sharp breath. “Are you wearing your suit?” Clint said, and he couldn’t keep the amazement out of his voice.

“I thought you were hurt,” Phil answered, and Clint also realized that he hadn’t taken his hand off Clint’s cheek.

“Phil?” Clint asked, because he suddenly didn’t understand what was happening here. The pain in his hand was throbbing, but it wasn’t bad, and the whole world narrowed to Phil and the water and Clint. The op was gone, Natasha was gone, the body they’d just pulled from the pool was gone. Clint put his good hand on Phil’s cheek and met his piercing blue eyes. “You’re still in your suit,” he repeated. The suit pants were clinging to Phil’s legs and his shirt was sticking to his skin. The back of his coat was floating behind him.

“I saw the blood in the water and I thought he’d killed you,” Phil answered, and his voice was thick with emotion, his eyes were cutting through Clint’s defenses.

“Still here,” he answered, but he took a step closer, the water brushing Phil’s sleeves against Clint’s arm.

“I might be considering you as more than an operative,” Phil said, a smile tugging at his lips.

“You’re standing in an L.A. swimming pool in a Dolce and Gabbana suit. I feel like more than an operative,” Clint answered. He wouldn’t divulge that Phil’s look made him feel like he was the center of the universe but  he was shaking with the thought that Phil might be thinking of him that way, too.

Phil just crinkled his eyes in a smile and leaned forward, meeting Clint’s lips and kissing him, fiercely.

Clint leaned into the kiss, licked Phil’s lips and felt Phil shudder against him. He pushed into Phil’s mouth, tasting the spearmint gum Phil always chewed on a mission, and he shuddered himself when Phil caught Clint’s tongue with his own and all Clint could think of was tearing the soggy clothes off of Phil’s body.

Natasha cleared her throat as she knelt at the edge of the pool. “We’ve cleared the house, but we need to clean up the pool, boys. This isn’t the most sanitary spot for your moment. There’s a nice master bedroom down the hall on the left from the top of the stairs if you want to continue this elsewhere.”

Phil pulled back and grinned at Clint, lighting Clint’s chest all the way out to his fingertips.

Clint sighed and leaned back into Phil’s waterlogged suit. “That might be pushing it a bit,” he said. “I have a really nice hotel room waiting for after the op. They even have a good, clean swimming pool.”

Phil leaned over and kissed Clint one more time, and Clint felt electricity in his touch.

“Might be safer to do this later,” he murmured as Phil pulled back, finally. “We should finish this op.”

“You need a bandage,” Phil said, pulling Clint by the wrist toward the edge of the pool.

“You need a new suit,” Clint answered. He trudged up the steps and onto the deck.

“You both need new ground rules for ops,” Natasha said, handing both of them a towel.

Clint stopped short. He didn’t want to mess up his job. He didn’t want to mess up their team. He looked at Natasha and then felt Phil’s hand slip into his own and squeezed.

“There are rules in place. We’re fine. A few forms to file if we want to, but we’re okay,” Phil said, and his voice was warm like a soft blanket and his eyes were as reassuring as a bow in Clint’s hands.

“Except for your suit,” Clint said with relief.

“And your hand,” Phil replied.

“And my resigned fate and new perspective on both of you,” Natasha sighed dramatically.

Phil and Clint laughed, and they finished up the cleanup in time for Phil and Clint to take a swim in the hotel pool that night.

They had appropriate swim attire this time, and they made out like teenagers on the pool steps. Clint savored the taste of Phil in his mouth, the press of Phil’s wet skin against his own in the water, and the feeling of the start of something unlike anything he’d ever had in his life before.  

Natasha sat in a deck chair and read a book, practicing how to ignore them when they were being smitten idiots.


End file.
